Does Zoey Really Write the Poems?

No, I (Tammy) am the creator of this blog and have crafted the poems. I’m intuitive, taking inspiration from many different sources, including people, school, books, movies, trauma recovery education, work, life, and my imagination. I’m having fun creating Zoey’s character and experience. And remember, I write about Zoey as if she is a real character!

Zoey Writes Poetry to Feel Her Feelings and Body Sensations

When Zoey was shown how to write a poem to help her literally FEEL her big feelings, she was stunned at how well this worked for her! This is important because once we feel those big and scary feelings (along with all the body sensations), they stop being held inside our bodies. Zoey found writing poetry to be a huge help for her in grieving.

Writing poetry also helped Zoey understand what’s going on inside of her. And as Jesus continues to connect with Zoey over and over again, she gets to feel Jesus’s love and acceptance of her as He keeps showing her how much He wants to be with her and how important she is to Him.  Zoey and I chuckle over the fact that she doesn’t like to read poetry, but here she is, cranking out poem after poem, crying her eyes out so she can feel better.

Sidenote: Do You Have to Write Poetry to Heal?

Uh, that would be a big NO! (But you can write poetry if you want!)

You may find that Zoey’s poems help you understand and grieve your losses, but that you don’t want to write poetry to heal. That is perfectly fine! The important thing is to find ways to feel and communicate what you are feeling, to authentically express your inner world in ways that don’t harm you or others. Find what helps you experience the “big feels” of grief, loss, anger, sorrow, rage… It could be dancing, music, making art, drawing, acting, journaling, hitting a punching bag—any way that works for you to feel your big feelings in a safe way is good.

But if you are interested in trying to write this kind of poetry, you might be relieved to note that it isn’t like school where you had to write patterns of rhyming words. It’s more like stream of consciousness journaling, except that it is written like a poem instead of paragraphs. Writing poems engages the right side of the brain and that side of the brain helps us feel and understand our emotions.

Jesus Cares for Zoey’s Soul

Zoey found it much easier to “pour out her heart” (like Jesus did to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane) through poems. Jesus in the garden is Zoey’s role model! Zoey has two parts to her poems: what she is grieving or feeling anger about followed by Jesus meeting her in her pain.

As Zoey writes, she is able to figure out what she is feeling and believing. She cries throughout the whole process, with body-racking sobs over the lies she’s believed about herself (being stupid, unlovable, worthless…) and the deep shame she feels over these “defects.” Then Jesus meets her, affirming to her that He sees and hears her. He understands what she went through and what she’s currently going through. He calls her “Sister, Friend, Beloved.” He replaces lies with truth about Zoey. As He does this, Zoey cries a flood of tears again, but these tears are filled with relief, joy, and amazement that Jesus could love her that much. Even though Zoey often believes she is unlovable, she feels weak in the knees as she realizes that Jesus’s heart remains wide open to her and she is overwhelmed (in a good way) by His love. Zoey is able to take in the good stuff coming from Jesus to her (through poems!)—in a way she hadn’t been able to experience before.

As Zoey began writing these poems, trying to figure out what was going on inside of her, she came up with a unique way of showing the intensity of these cries. Many of the cries involved a lot of Kleenexes, such as a real doozey of a cry that Zoey called “The 15 Kleenex Cry.” These cries often came at night and lasted 60 minutes or so. Afterwards, Zoey feels like a limp dishrag (it’s a very intense process), but also feels a huge sense of calm and relief. Zoey also feels more human, able to be more present and connected to herself, her family, and her Jesus.

Trauma Education Helps Zoey

Before Zoey started writing poetry, she unconsciously experienced internal chaos and was overwhelmed most of the time. She lacked the vocabulary to even talk about her experience. It is often chaotic and noisy inside people with heart wounds from childhood.

Zoey marvels at how trauma education helps her understand what’s going on inside, even by this short quote of Janina Fisher’s: “Internal chaos is not communication.”

“Dang!” Zoey exclaims, “That’s exactly what it’s like inside of me—pure chaos! Ugh! No wonder I’ve been so confused!”

Zoey Comforts Her Kid Parts with Simple Language

Zoey, when processing heart wounds, writes very simple and easy to understand poems, often at a first-grade level! She’s dealing with the kid parts inside of her who keep thinking they are still kids living with Zoey’s abusive dad, even though Zoey is 37-years-old. The poems touch her heart, help her feel her painful feelings, and help her experience how much Jesus loves her. Zoey loves that her poems also touch people’s hearts and how simple and easy her poems are to understand.

Zoey Shares Her Poems

Zoey was amazed, as she wrote poems to grieve, how Jesus was meeting her in those painful places. Zoey thought, “Wow, these poems are good! Not good in terms of great literature, but good for getting my feelings of anguish and pain out and having Jesus meet me where I am.” Zoey looked around for people (like her) with heart wounds, people who might like her poetry…and found, to her enjoyment, some people loved the poems and were thirsty for more of Zoey’s poems!

Both Zoey and I hope that you experience Jesus’s healing balm while engaging with the poems and other material on this blog!